Holiday Gift Guide: Wellness Gifts We Love (Part 2) - Ask a Nutritionist

Transcript:

BRITNI: Hello, and welcome to “Ask a Nutritionist”. My name is Britni Vincent. I'm a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, and I am joined with Brandy Buro, also a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. And we are back. We did a part one to this last week, so if you didn't listen, Be sure to go back and listen, but we are sharing wellness gift ideas today. All of these were handpicked ideas by the dietitians and nutritionists here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness.

BRANDY: Yeah, this is a really fun topic. Hopefully you all get some inspiration for your gift giving season. So our next category of gifts is quality supplements. And I love this idea because I think it's a really unique gift idea, but very well received; sends the message I care about you and your health.

BRITNI: For sure. You know, this is what my mom gave my brother last year for a Christmas gift and it's just a three month supply of foundational supplements. And he loved it. It was great. So if you know somebody is, is interested and they're willing to take supplements, Brandy and I are going to be talking about just foundational supplements that anybody could benefit from.

1^st foundational supplement to benefit anyone: omega-3s

And, you know, I will start off with omega-3s. Yes. You know, this is one I, I recommend to all of my clients, because it is an essential fatty acid. So our bodies don't make it. We have to get it from food or supplements. The best sources are fatty fish and realistically people are just not eating enough fatty fish to get enough omega-threes.

And they help with just overall inflammation, brain health, eye health. They help make our cells more insulin sensitive, lots of benefits. And Brandy, you actually did an “Ask a Nutritionist” on this topic, right; pretty recently.

BRANDY: In the last couple of months, so yeah, go in the archives and check out that episode just to learn more about the functions of omega-3 and how essential it is to our health. You can't go wrong with this one.

BRITNI: No, you can't.

Foundational supplement #2: vitamin D

BRANDY: Well, similarly, You just can't get enough of it from food or the environment. It's vitamin D. I think most people need to supplement with vitamin D, especially if you live in the Midwest. Because this is a nutrient that we get from sun exposure and we're just, we can't be outside during the optimal times.

Especially if you live in the Midwest, you just, you're not really able to get enough sun exposure to get what you need for vitamin D. So you need to supplement. I would say most adults could benefit from the 5,000 international unit capsule. So I think during the winter months, this would be a great thing to gift anyone in your family.

And this is essential for a lot of roles in our body. It's great for your immune system, your mental health, hormone balance. So it covers a lot of ground, just like the omega-3.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yes, I agree. I think basically everybody needs to be supplementing with it.

BRANDY: Well, what's next on your list, Britni?

Foundational supplement #3: quality multivitamin

BRITNI: Well, I always take a good quality multivitamin. I give a multivitamin to my whole family. Again, I recommend it to my clients. Because as much as we would all want to get everything we could from food. It's just, it's not realistic. You know, the nutrient content of our food has significantly reduced.

And the two that come to my mind are Twice Per Day, the Nutrikey Twice Per Day or the Ortho Molecular Alpha Base. Those are two really great ones. I know Leah did an “Ask a Nutritionist” episode about multivitamins, and so that would be a great one to listen to just, just to learn more if you are interested. But again, I think anybody could benefit from a good quality multivitamin.

BRANDY: Good point. Knowing that our food isn't as nutrient rich as maybe it was a hundred years ago. I think of magnesium.

Foundations supplement #4: magnesium

BRITNI: Yeah.

BRANDY: You know, most of us are deficient in magnesium because our soil is deficient in magnesium. So I, I would supplement with magnesium. Most people benefit from that. This is like the miracle mineral, right? Again, plays a lot of roles in our health, cardiovascular health, our bone health, even blood sugar control.

And one of the biggest benefits that I love it for is how it can support better sleep. It is amazing how much deeper of sleep you get when you take a little magnesium before you go to bed. So I would say if you can give the gift of good sleep, I mean, that's priceless. They're going to love you forever.

BRITNI: Absolutely. Yeah. Magnesium really is magical and has so many beneficial properties to it.

Gift idea #5: Key Collagen

Well, this would be another idea that I would say isn't necessarily foundational, but maybe you want to get somebody something they wouldn't buy for themselves. So you could get a container of the Key Collagen for them.

BRANDY: Yeah. Good idea.

BRITNI: Yeah. It's really great quality. Anybody could benefit. It's helpful for, I mean, we hear hair, skin, and nails. Yes, but it's also really beneficial for joint health, gut health, tendons, ligaments, bone health. And the Key Collagen is unique, because it contains very specific peptides for these different areas of the body. And I think everybody's heard of collagen by now, so I'm sure that your friends or family would appreciate this one as well.

BRANDY: And it works. Yeah. It's really effective. And I think this time of year, it's dry. You know, you might notice like your skin and your hair not looking as bouncy and bright. Collagen can help with that.

BRITNI: Good point. Everybody wants their hair, skin, and their nails to look better.

BRANDY: So before we wrap up the quality supplements for your gift giving season, I want to mention one more really foundational supplement, a good probiotic. And the one that I would suggest is the Biotic 7. The Biotic 7 I love because it is a multi-strain probiotic.

So this is really great for folks that have already taken probiotics and they just want to add a little diversity into their routine. And it's also really convenient because it's one capsule.

One capsule a day will suit most people's needs, but it's also shelf stable. So I love this when I'm traveling because I can pack it in my toiletry bag and I don't have to worry about it, you know, “going bad”. Some probiotics need to live in the refrigerator. So this one is great to take along as you travel. Maybe you have an upcoming, tropical trip coming up, so this is a great one to take with you; keep your gut health in check.

Fitness & movement gift category (idea #1: class pass gift card)

BRITNI: Yeah. Awesome. I love that one too. Well, let's move on to the next category, fitness and movement gifts. Anything that comes to mind first for you, Brandy?

BRANDY: Well, when I was brainstorming some ideas, something I thought of was a class pass gift card. So, this is something a lot of my friends love to use and basically what it is is you have a pre-paid card that you can use to access a lot of different fitness classes at gyms and studios around your area.

So it's a great option for the person who's maybe just getting into fitness, but they're not quite sure what their thing is yet. You know, do I, do I, am I into yoga or am I into spin class? This would give them the chance to test a few things out and figure out where their groove is.

BRITNI: Oh, I love that.

BRANDY: Or, you know, it's great for people that just get bored with doing the same thing every day and they can just switch it up every week. So if this is something you want to try, the gift cards are electronic and then emailed to whoever it is that you're giving this to. You can choose when it's delivered. So just give them a heads up of when you're sending that. What I've done in the past is I'll write a little card, let them know what I'm giving them and wrap that up with maybe a water bottle or something.

Idea #2: quality water bottles

BRITNI: Good idea. Yeah. Really good idea. And so speaking of water bottles, I think that could be a really nice gift as well because a nice quality water bottle, they're not cheap. So again, maybe something somebody is not going to spend money on for themselves. But what I would look for in a water bottle is make sure that it's stainless steel or glass.

I think stainless steel is probably preferable, so you don't have to worry about it breaking. And then, you know, making sure that they are lead free. And, again, water bottles come in so many different colors, and people are actually more likely to drink more water if they have an attractive looking water bottle.

BRANDY: I think especially this time of year, again, like when people are chilly and cold, at least with the clients I work with, I find that they're not drinking a lot of water or as much as they did in the summer.

BRITNI: Yeah, that's true.

BRITNI: Yep.

BRANDY: But our water needs are the same.

BRITNI: Yep.

BRANDY: So if a fun water bottle is going to help you hit your water goals, go for it.

BRITNI: Yeah. It's a great gift.

Last category: self-care

All right. So the last category of ideas that we'll share with you today is self care. You know.

BRITNI: Yeah, I love the sound of this category.

BRANDY: Stress management is so important to a healthy lifestyle. So these gift ideas I think are perfect for the person that is always giving, but maybe not giving to themselves. So my idea is pretty classic, but I think it's always well received. If you were to give a gift card for a massage or to a spa and they can kind of pick what services they get there. That's at least giving them the opportunity to take some time for themselves.

And maybe what I would do is wrap that up with a new pair of slippers or a comfy robe or something. You know?

BRITNI: Yeah, great idea.

BRANDY: Take some time for yourself and relax.

Idea #3: essential oils

BRITNI: Yes. Good. Yeah. That everybody would love that gift. Absolutely. The other thing that might be nice to think about is an essential oil kit. Depending on if this individual is into essential oils or not, there's kind of some starter kits that give you like maybe five of the basic ones and then get a nice diffuser to go along with it.

BRANDY: Perfect.

BRITNI: You could even get like a little essential oil booklet that gives them more information about how to use them. But I think anybody could benefit from that as well to help with relaxation. Some of them help with sleep, immunity.

BRANDY: Yeah.

BRITNI: Lots of benefits.

BRANDY: They’re so much fun and you can combine them. Lavender is one of my favorites. Just so relaxing before bed. I've even used some essential oils like in a hot shower, just to kind of replicate a steam room almost. It's just so relaxing.

BRITNI: Yeah. Lots of uses. I use them to clean.

Idea #4: cozy blanket

BRANDY: Yeah. Love that idea. Maybe one more idea I'll throw out is a new snuggly blanket. And again, this is, an opportunity to kind of splurge and just get something really special, but who doesn't love a new cozy, fuzzy blanket to curl up, watch a good movie or with a nice cup of tea?

BRITNI: Read a book.

BRANDY: And this could be a great gift for somebody maybe you don't really know super well, but you still really want to show them that you appreciate them.

BRITNI: It's a really good idea as well. Well, remember that we also have all of these on the wellness gift article on our website, weightandwellness.com, as well as the ones that we talked about last week. And then we have some links for you too, to make it super easy to provide these gifts to loved ones. Be sure to check out that article for more ideas. It's your complete wellness gift guide.

BRITNI: Well, thank you so much for joining us today and happy holidays.